Chelsea will consider bringing forward Antonio Rudiger's planned return from a serious knee injury following Sunday's opening day capitulation at Manchester United.
The Germany international underwent knee surgery earlier this year that ruled him out of the final games of last season.
Sportsmail understands Rudiger had pencilled in the clash against Wolves after the forthcoming international break to make his long-awaited return to action.
The former Roma centre half has stepped up his training regime at the club's Cobham HQ, but is understandably keen to make sure his injured knee, which required surgery, is 100 per cent before returning to action.
But manager Lampard is keeping an even closer eye on Rudiger's pending return following Sunday's heavy 4-0 loss at Old Trafford.
Before the start of the season, Lampard privately stressed to Rudiger during talks at the club's training ground about how important he viewed the defender to his plans.
The Blues boss is understandably eager to have his key man available as soon as possible as he looks to add solidity to he defence.
Kurt Zouma was singled out for criticism following the loss to United.
Having returned from an impressive loan spell at Everton last season, Zouma will have an important role at Stamford Bridge this season, particularly following last week's departure of David Luiz to Arsenal.
ChelseaFanBoy
73
Personally, I think Zouma should stay cool because this is just a first match only, there are still have many games to prove that he can play well, he just need more training to fix his mistakes. Btw, is good to hear Rudiger is back :D
sipbdeiot
57
Use Azpili and Christensen as center backs, get zapacosta to play right back and shield Alonso left. Get Kante and Joginoh as holding pairs then use Barkley to play behind the top man. Get pulisic as left winger and Willian to the right. let Giruud and Abraham battle for the number 9 spot as both lads are good. Kovacic is best also this season , let him be the back for barkley or joginoh for he can play both roles. I tell you if its made like this, this chelsea team will be like that of Di mateo which had no players but ended up winning the Uefa. Zouma is good but you dont need to trust him at this stage no, he still needs to learn and understand what it is to play at big team in a first team. And if i was a chelsea manager i would love zouma to be my holding midfielder pairing him with kante and moving joginoh up as my killer pass player because the guy is good in passes. look how cesc did when conte played him behind costa, he phenomino. So to conclude, our team chelsea has good players to challenge the title but we just need to know how to field them.
Cuncilu
54
Why al this panic talk? When your side is the better team and ends up losing by a 4 - 0 margin, with almost half of the starting players absent (Rudiger, Odoi, Luftus - Cheek and Kante) you should praise the performance and blame it on bad luck. To hit the bar twice and not ending up with a single goal is just bad luck. Let's continue to support our current team as the injured members regain match fitness and return to bolster the rest. We'll be a great side to challenge for everything. Am not in the least scared. I HAVE CONFIDENCE IN CHELSEA.
jibsonflexy
45
Lampard should not give up
mazbdkntz
27
This should be our line up against Liverpool